An enthusiast from Gulbene decided to fulfill his dream and set off on a journey to the northernmost point of the European continent. The uniqueness of this story is that Reinis Felders is covering a vast distance on the 'Riga-13' moped. This old, low-powered, and temperamental vehicle is still running.
The journey on the 'Riga-13' began about a week ago. Before that, Reinis transported the moped by car to a Finnish town where Santa Claus's residence is located, as reported by the program '900 Seconds' (TV3).
At the handlebars of the moped, Reinis planned to cover about 800 kilometers in each direction. It should be understood that the 'Riga-13' is a low-powered moped with a single gear, which also has pedals. They can be used when the engine struggles too much.
"The moped is holding up well. The first engine started to show signs of trouble around the 400th kilometer — it began to knock," Reinis says.
He prepared quite well, so he replaced the faulty engine with a spare one he brought along.
As he approached the northernmost point of land located in Norway, Reinis had to face mountains. Rolling downhill is great, but then you have to go back up.
"As soon as I see a mountain, I know I’ll have to pedal. I tense up, pedal, and then roll down again," Reinis says.
In the mountains, he often had to cool the moped's engine and repair the pedals. Reinis has owned the 'Riga-13' for over ten years. For the first ten years, the moped sat in a shed.
"Then last year, it turned out that it had been ten years since I bought my first moped. And it seemed symbolic to ride it through Estonia," Reinis recounts.
In the second half of last week, Reinis reached his goal. The northernmost point of Europe was conquered. Now he is heading back.
It should be noted that the 'Riga-13' usually travels at a speed of 20–25 kilometers per hour. The traveler plans to return to Latvia in the second half of this week.
